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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

April Bostic says THE
HOWLING HEART is primarily a romance—with a unique kind of werewolf. She enjoys
werewolves and shapeshifters but intended for hers to be different and to
support the romance in her story.
She also believes that although
werewolves are involved, it’s important that the main characters be
relatable to the reader. One reviewer
says, “This is the top of my list for
paranormal.”

THE HOWLING
HEART is Bostic’s second novel, and she has also published several short
stories—adult romances frequently with a supernatural twist. When she’s not
writing, she’s dreaming about one of her stories being made into a film,
playing computer games, or spending time with her family.

Q: Your book, THE
HOWLING HEART, features werewolves. How did you become interested in writing
about werewolves? Do you consider THE HOWLING HEART primarily a romance,
thriller, or ????

April Bostic: I
was inspired to write THE HOWLING HEART after watching the film “Blood and
Chocolate” and the television series “Wolf Lake”. I’ve always enjoyed
werewolves and shapeshifters, and these are two of my favorites because of how
the werewolves were portrayed. I decided to try my own take on werewolf
mythology when I wrote my book to see if I could create something unique that I’d
never heard or seen before. I’m also a hopeless romantic, so there was no
question in my mind that the book would primarily be a romance story.

Q: Fans and readers
of shape-shifters appreciate your approach to “a
different side of werewolves” and say it’s “not your typical werewolf story.”
How is THE HOWLING HEART different from a typical book on werewolves? What
makes it unique?

April Bostic:I think THE
HOWLING HEART is unique, because my werewolves are actually wolves that can
take human form instead of vice versa. They are born wolves and must sleep as
wolves. They have to learn how to take human form when they’re young. They are
not a wolf-human hybrid. Their origin is unique in that they’re descended from
a wolf in 13th century Scandinavia that was blessed by Norse gods
with the ability to take human form. The reason he was blessed is also unique,
because it began from a long-term bond and love for a human. I even think their
name---Varulv—is unusual. It’s the
Danish and Swedish translation for ‘werewolf’.

Q: How do you create
credibility for your werewolf characters? How do you engage readers to care
about them? Are there any rules for making a paranormal story credible? Or
perhaps it doesn’t matter?

April Bostic: I
think it’s important to make the main character relatable to some readers. I
also think it’s key to ground some of the story in reality. Authors of this
genre ask their readers to suspend disbelief, but I think there needs to be
some reality so it’s balanced. Otherwise, the story becomes too unbelievable
and over the top. That’s when some readers have a lot of questions because
things don’t make sense. I understand that some things in the paranormal
universe can defy logic, but again, there should be a balance where the author
explains how certain things are possible.

Q: Reviewers say they
“couldn’t put it down!” What makes them want to keep turning the page?

April Bostic: It’s
good a feeling to know I kept some readers engaged in the book. I hope they
couldn’t put it down, because they enjoyed my writing style, and that I wrote
enough action and suspense to keep them wondering “What’s going to happen next?”

Q: How helpful was
the setting (a small village) to telling your story? Would it have been the
same type of story if set in New York City, for example?

April Bostic:
Most Varulv live in small, isolated communities because it’s safer for them and humans.There aren’t any packs living in big cities because it
increases the risk of exposure and humans discovering their secret. Especially
with pups who really have no self-control. It’s not a good idea to let them
socialize with humans when they’re still learning to control their shifting.
Varulv live in close-knit packs so they can protect one another and elude
humans if the situation arises. I don’t think THE HOWLING HEART would’ve been as
effective if Paige discovered a pack in her city. The city is too familiar for
her. The setting had to put her out of her comfort zone to the point she feels
helpless and has to rely on werewolves to survive.

Q: Did you write THE
HOWLING HEART strictly to entertain, or did you embed a few messages in it?

April Bostic: I
don’t think I intentionally embedded any messages, but if anyone can take
something valuable from the story, then I think that’s wonderful. I wrote THE
HOWLING HEAERT to share with others and entertain those who enjoy a good
romance!

Q:Does the concept of “heroes vs villains”
apply to THE HOWLING HEART? How would you define an effective villain?

April Bostic: I
definitely think the conflict of heroes vs villains comes into play.With THE HOWLING HEART, Paige sees one
person as a villain who turns out is really not. The person who is the true
villain doesn’t reveal themselves until later. I think an effective villain is
to not make them obvious from the beginning. Make the villain intriguing for the
reader. Many characters in my book are not always who they seem to be. I also
made sure not to fall into the cliché of the male always being the hero and
rescuing the “damsel in distress”. There are moments when female characters
display very brave and heroic characteristics.

Q: Would you
recommend THE HOWLING HEART to those who do not typically read paranormal or
space-shifter literature? Why or why not?

April Bostic: I
would recommend my book to anyone who enjoys adult romances, because even
without the paranormal element, the story is mainly a romance. The fact that
there are werewolves and Norse gods doesn’t distract too much from the main
theme of the story. I don’t think the story is about werewolves; it’s about two
people who met as children and one of them fell in love and never stopped
wishing for them to be reunited so they could be together forever.

Q:What’s next? Will you be writing more
paranormal or romance novels?

April Bostic:I have an idea for another paranormal
romance novel, but it’s in the early stages. I’ve also been considering a
sequel to THE HOWLING HEART, because I feel there could be more story to tell
my readers. I haven’t published a book in two years, and it’s difficult to get
my creative juices flowing again. It takes a lot to motivate me to write, so I
really have to find something to give me the push I need.

Q: Tell us about
April Bostic. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

April Bostic: I’m
a big dreamer, and I find myself dream-casting my characters when I watch
movies and television programs. My mother is the only other person who does
this, because she’s read all my books. We like to choose different actors and
actresses and talk about why they’d be a good fit to play a certain character.
I think the main reason we do this is because we’d both love to see one of my
stories get adapted for film one day. I’d say that’s probably my biggest dream.
I think THE HOWLING HEART would make an amazing movie…with the right director
of course! When I’m not writing, you’ll usually find me watching television,
spending time with my family, or playing computer games. I’m a very laid back
person.

About April
Bostic

April Bostic
is a New Jersey-based, Adult Romance author who enjoys unleashing her
creativity and letting her imagination run wild. Her love of romance books
inspired her to become not just a reader, but also a writer. In December 2008,
she self-published her first novel, a contemporary romance with a supernatural
twist entitled "A Rose to the Fallen".

Her first short story, "Right
Here, Right Now", released in January 2012, is an erotic romance with a
dash of S&M. The following year, she released two more short stories: a
romantic urban fantasy inspired by the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche entitled
"Eros, My Love", and a sexy romantic comedy entitled "Love
Addiction".

After five years, she released her
second novel, "The Howling Heart" in August 2013, a paranormal
romance that delves into the mystical world of werewolves and Norse gods. To
end her busiest year in publishing, April also released her fourth short story
in December 2013, a historical paranormal romance entitled "A Dark
Scandal".

About
THE HOWLING HEART

Paige Donovan is an ambitious
college graduate who aspires to reach the top of the corporate ladder. She’s
climbing fast when given the promotion of a lifetime at a prestigious fashion
magazine in New York City. Her bright future comes to an unexpected halt after
news of her father’s death. She inherits his old cabin in the Colorado Rockies,
and just when she thinks her luck couldn’t get any worse, she has a car
accident in the mountains and awakens in the small, remote community of Black
River.

Soon, she’s engulfed in the mystical world of
Varulv---wolves descended from 13th century Scandinavia and blessed by Norse
gods with the ability to appear human. Paige is desperate to return home, but
never expects to fall for her rescuer, Riley Gray, a charming young werewolf
from England who offers her an alternate future with his pack.

Now, she must choose between the career she’s
always wanted and the love she’s always dreamed.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

John
Pearce’s recently-released LAST STOP: PARIS is an international suspense thriller and a sequel to
his previous thriller, TREASURE OF SAINT-LAZARE. Set in Paris, LAST STOP: PARIS
intends to pull the reader into the city as the protagonist works to identify
the black-market seller of anti-aircraft missiles.

A
former journalist for the International Herald Tribune, Pearce knows Europe
well and particularly Paris, where he lives off and on when not in Sarasota, FL.
In addition to writing and traveling, Pearce writes a blog PartTimeParisian.com. He is currently working
on a third novel that will combine the characters from the first two novels.

Q: Reviewers
describe your newest release, LAST STOP: PARIS, as an international mystery,
full of suspense and adventure. What are the elements that make it a mystery?
Or would you describe it as more of an adventure than a mystery? A thriller?
What makes it so?

John Pearce: I was amused
that Kirkus, in its rather fulsome review, had trouble characterizing it. The
first book was clearly a historical mystery (and in fact won a national
“best-of” award for the category). In LAST STOP: PARIS, the mystery is the
identity of the ultimate bad guy, who was responsible for the misery in Eddie
Grant’s life but always seems just out of reach. The thriller part is very
topical – the black-market sale of deadly anti-aircraft missiles known as
manpads, which Eddie and his sidekicks must thwart to prevent the physical and
financial carnage that would result if two loaded airliners were shot down at
De Gaulle Airport.

John Pearce: I intended to
write one book, but after no more than two or three chapters I realized the
story was bigger than that. It would have been a very large single
volume.

Q: How helpful
is Paris as a setting to create suspense, intrigue, and/or romance? Would these
two stories be different if set in New York, London, or San Francisco?

John Pearce: I write about
Paris because that’s the big city I know best, it’s where I live for part of
each year, and I am a true fan. While I could set similar a story in another
big city, it wouldn’t have the flavor of Paris. Eddie is a dual national, at
home in both the French and American worlds. He distinguished himself as a
military officer in Operation Desert Storm, and proudly wears the ribbons of
both his Bronze Star and his Legion d’Honneur. His father, and all the Grant
men before them, were also military officers, and his father was an American
military spy behind German lines in France and elsewhere in the world (that’s
another book).

Q:How did you create your protagonist,
Eddie? Is he based on someone you knew? Would you describe him as a “hero?”

John Pearce: Like all my
characters, Eddie is an amalgam of people I know and people who live only in my
imagination. I’d be very surprised if there is a person alive who would see
himself clearly in Eddie.

Eddie
would not consider himself a hero, but his friends would. His goal is to be an
ordinary man living an ordinary life, but outside forces make that impossible
and he always rises to the occasion, with a little help from his friends.

Q: Is the
concept of “hero vs villain” relevant to LAST STOP: PARIS? Do you define your
villains clearly, or are they a mixture of good guy/bad guy?

John Pearce: The concept is
very relevant. The villains are the type of people I consider most villainous –
people willing to injure, even kill, simply for financial gain. The true
villains in both my stories are genuinely evil, but be careful jumping to quick
conclusions about any of them. There’s at least one major surprise on the
horizon.

Q: How helpful
was your career as a journalist to develop the plots and characters for your
novels? Were you able to transfer the skills required for writing non-fiction
articles on economics etc. to writing fiction?

John Pearce: Journalism
taught me to gather information and organize it so it can be used to construct
a story. Learning to write in the long form was a challenge, so much so that I
shelved the novel for a year and dug deeply into the art and craft of writing
novels. When I came back to it, the writing went much more smoothly.

Q: How do you
create suspense? Again, what enabled you to write a thriller after a career as
a journalist?

John Pearce: Suspense comes from putting people into difficult situations and watching how
they dig out. Sometimes I have the resolution in mind before I begin to write,
but it’s amazing how many scenes develop themselves organically only after I
start to put words on paper.

Good
journalists, good novelists and good short-story writers have one trait in
common: they are good story-tellers. They can communicate the facts of an event
or a situation in a way that readers can understand. The journalist of the type
I was (just the facts, ma’am) has less freedom of writing style, while the
truly literary novelist is free to create elegant phrases that flow smoothly
across the page. As a novelist, I’m somewhere in between, I think.

Q: Did you
write your PARIS novels strictly to entertain or do you sneak in a few key
messages?

John Pearce: Entertainment
is my main goal, but I also want my readers to feel like they’re physically
present in my scenes. One of the most charming reviews I received for TREASURE
said something like, “I’ve never been to Paris until now.” That reviewer
understood what I was trying to do.

I
didn’t set out to make any political or social points, but several reviewers
thought I had. Of course, it’s the rare writer who can create a story free of
his own experiences and viewpoints. But my stories aren’t tracts of any sort.

Q: What’s next?

John Pearce: I’m about 40%
finished with a third novel, which will reunite the characters I assembled in
the first two books, plus or minus. As I envision it now, it will have more of
an espionage flavor to it.

After
that, I want to write the story of Eddie’s father, Artie, a Harvard-trained
lawyer who FDR lured out of the business world in the 30s to become a military
spy (at a time when it wasn’t done for someone of his class to join the
military). If it works the way my preliminary outline says it should, it will
be a sweeping yarn.

Q: Tell us
about John Pearce. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

John Pearce: I read quite a
bit. You can’t write novels unless you read them. I like music – my wife Jan
and I live in Sarasota, an arts city on the West Coast of Florida, and we have
a pretty full schedule of concerts through the winter this year. We travel, to
Paris and elsewhere. This year we’ve been to Chattanooga and Knoxville for the
Civil War history, plus New York and Washington. The opening chapter of the
next book takes place in Miami, so we’ve gone there a couple of times,
including a great long weekend at the Miami Book Fair.

And
I look for interesting things to do. In Paris this year, for example, we were
“discovered” by the casting director for a film the Paris Opera Ballet was
producing and wound up playing the part of rather stereotypical American
tourists, with speaking roles, no less. I wrote about the experience and linked
to the film a few weeks ago on my blog, PartTimeParisian.com.

For
someone who’s a fan of music and the arts, the best part of it was the
opportunity to spend an entire day on the stage, in the rehearsal halls, and in
the seats of the Opera Bastille, one of the great houses of the world.

#

About
John Pearce

John Pearce is a part-time Parisian
but lives quite happily most of the year in Sarasota, FL. He worked as a
journalist in Washington and Europe, where he covered economics for the
International Herald Tribune and edited a business magazine. After a business
career in Sarasota, he spends his days working on his future books - The new
one, LAST STOP: PARIS, is a 2015 project. It is a sequel to TREASURE OF SAINT-LAZARE.

For several months each year, he and
his wife Jan live in Paris, walk its streets, and chase down interesting
settings for future books and his blog, PartTimeParisian.com. They lived
earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, which gave him valuable insights for several of
the scenes in Last Stop: Paris.

When readers last saw
Eddie Grant in Treasure of Saint-Lazare (2012), he was hot on the
trail of Nazi war loot in the company of his on-again, off-again lover,
Jen. As readers return to Eddie’s shadowy world of undercover deals and
thugs in the employ of crime bosses, they find a quieter, more mature Eddie,
now married to Aurélie, a scholar of some note, and living in pleasant domestic
bliss. Onto this romantic scene come several of Eddie’s friends, who alert him
to suspicious activity within his social circle, involving a man with criminal
intentions and an interest in gold. Shortly afterward, a mysterious murder
implicates another character from Eddie’s past. As he looks into the
matter, Aurélie soon finds herself in danger; at the same time, Jen reappears
in Eddie’s life, and he’s simultaneously drawn to her and eager to avoid
falling into bed with her again. Soon, he and his comrades must track down
another ring of criminals and protect themselves from fatal
retribution. Although sequels often suffer by having less energy than
first installments, Pearce’s second foray into Eddie’s world has no such
trouble. The pacing races from chapter to chapter as characters become
more fully fleshed-out—particularly those in Eddie’s ring of friends. Jen
provides a nice foil as an engaging modern woman who can take care of herself. Pearce
again accomplishes every thriller writer’s aim: creating characters that the
readers can root for and a believable, fast-paced storyline. The climax
and denouement bring the storylines together neatly, but fans will see that
there may yet be room for another book in the series.

An exhilarating journey
that will satisfy the most avid thriller reader.

Aurélie ran for the métro, certain she could lose Max in the maze
of tunnels that connected three subway lines.

“Help me!” she called out, as loudly as she could. “He’s trying to
kill me!” Heads turned, first toward her and then toward Max, who hesitated for
only an instant.

Two steps at a time, she ran down the stairs to the platform, only
to see the red lights of a departing train recede down the tracks ahead. The
sign above the platform told her the next wouldn’t arrive for two minutes. She
calculated quickly that she could run the length of the platform to the
complicated system of transfer tunnels that make up the station, but after
twenty yards the heel of her left shoe broke. In the few seconds it took to
remove both of them, Max caught her arm in a viselike grip.

“End of the line, lady,” he gasped. He was panting hard from the
run.

As people arrived for the next train they started to gather around
the curious sight. Most backed away when they saw the knife in Max’s hand —
except for one shabbily dressed young man who had been asleep behind the row of
chairs lining the station wall.

Aurélie was strong and in better condition than Max was, from
lifting weights and the long runs she and Eddie made frequently along the
Seine, but she knew she could not beat him in a knife fight, so she played for
time. She grabbed Max’s wrist with both hands and pushed the knife away while
the young man moved in with his backpack. She flexed her toes and gripped the
rubber buttons of the warning strip, pushing hard to keep Max off balance until
she felt the cold wind that every arriving train pushes ahead of it, then heard
the sound of brakes as the train entered the station. The sound rose an octave
as the driver saw the fight and began a full panic stop.

A second before the train passed, she planted her foot behind
Max’s ankle and pushed him with the last of her strength. He dropped the knife
so he could hold her with both hands, but it was too late — by then she had
tipped him beyond the point of no return. She released her death grip on his
right wrist and he tumbled headlong in front of the hundred-ton train. His
anguished scream died abruptly as the first car rolled over him.

The young man grabbed Aurélie tightly around the waist to pull her
out of the way, but even with his help they bounced a dozen feet along the side
of the slowing train.

She turned to look at him. “You are a brave man. Thank you.”

“I am a soldier, or at least I was. Where did you learn to fight
like that?”

She picked one of the blue plastic chairs lining the station wall
and sat down. “It’s the second time I’ve been threatened by a man with a
knife,” she said. “After the first I swore I’d never be the victim again, so I
made my fiancé teach me. He was also a soldier.”

“It worked. What did you say to that man just as you pushed him in
front of the train?”

Monday, December 7, 2015

Joshua
Braff uses both truth and fiction to bring us his THE DADDY DIARIES, a story
about a stay-at-home dad who moves with his family from California to Florida
where his wife has a new job. Braff’s family and his relationships with his
family motivate his writing. Humor is crucial in his novels, and he considers
flawed humans to be real.

Braff
has written two other novels,THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS OF JACOB GREEN and PEEP SHOW, and you can
find his works in The Huffington Post. When he’s not writing, he paints large canvases
with acrylic and oil, has sold his art, and has had two studios. He is
currently working on his next novel.

Don't miss the giveaway opportunity following the interview.

Q: THE DADDY DIARIES concerns a family who moves from San Francisco to Florida, a situation
that causes me to shudder (apologies to my friends who live in Florida. You
know I’m a Californiaphile.) How did you conceive of such a plot? Is your novel
based on real events?

Joshua Braff: Yes, I use
both truth and fiction in my writing. This story was based on us, a family of
four that left the SF Bay Area for St. Petersburg, FL, for a job. My wife’s
job. I was and am the stay-at-home Dad in our life. When we arrived the kids
were off to school, the wife to work and I was still wearing my Pacific
Northwest jeans in the 106 degree weather. I bought shorts and found the best
air conditioning I could fine. Starbucks. I started writing “pieces” about my
observations of my children throughout their lives. From the perspective of a
writer that focuses on the human condition and families, my creative well was
full. The Daddy Diaries is the result. I love the book.

Q: You focus on
family life in your books. Is this a theme that is especially important to you?
Why?

Joshua Braff: When I began
writing short stories in grad school in 1995, I saw the process as an art form
only. The notion that I’d attempt to also get paid and contribute to a nest egg
was not going to come from my “hobby” of writing tender sketches about
Americans. When I got good at it the result was an ability to tap into
fictionally structured moments that seemed to emit a level of importance.
Perhaps literary importance. Moments like this to readers of short stories are
rare and feed the soul well. So, the topic of family and relationships within
the family is at the crux of all my motivations.

Q: Your
reviewers mention how much they enjoy your use of humor. How helpful is it to
tell your story?

Joshua Braff:Crucial, in novels. Not important in
short stories. Again, short stories, to me, are pure art. Novels cannot be
assessed without taking into account you’re selling them to a mass amount of
people. The people have needs, focus group needs. I want to make them laugh,
cry, giggle at sexual stuff we all face and recognize themselves in the
sentences. I’ve always described my thoughts of structure to involve, humor,
pathos, pace, and us much dialogue as I feel like. Dialogue can be funny just
for sounding so real. My characters are partially“defined” in dialogue. I love when good characters speak in
novels. Not everyone can write humor.

Q: Reviewers
also claim that you “highlight both negative and positive points of the family.”
How supportive are flaws or negative sides to building a relatable story?

Joshua Braff:I’d say I’m nothing without fully
realized, three-dimensional characters. No human comes without flaws. My game
is to make you see elements of your own real, adult life. So the warts are just
as important as the porcelain skin. It won’t come off true if the characters
are either mired in doom, or smiling all day long. The best day of your life is
not the day I write about. But if I did, I’d be sure to recognize the moments
in the fleeting perfection that remind us of our vulnerability.

Q: How do you
create interest or suspense in a story about a family? What keeps your readers
turning the pages?

Joshua Braff:I’d say the unknown. I’m in control
with the “volume knobs” of the tempo and vibe of the moment. This too is earned
in how you open the book and introduce characters. But when you write about
kids and you draw them to be real, isn’t the reader now in a vulnerable spot,
not yet knowing what happens to these kids you care about. Same with the adult
characters. If you’re relating heavily to a character and I place her in a
place of possible trouble, you’re going to turn the page to see what happens.
We all come from family. I sometimes play with dangers that never come to
fruition. The reader will turn pages, just to see if everything is going to be
okay.

Q: Did you
write THE DADDY DIARIES strictly to entertain your readers or did you also embed a
message or two in the story?

Joshua Braff:I believe strongly in one’s ability to
bring all of themselves to parenting. There is adequate parenting, detrimental
parenting, a sort of “dial it in” vibe that comes off the American dad, etc.I am not perfect but I work at and
construct ways in my mind to connect with my kids, now teenagers. I know they
love me but are also in the process of finding their independence. This
definitely involves rolling their eyes at me. My openness to being told, “You’re
wrong, Dad,” is at the core of an ability that is lost on certain parents.
People too caught up in the “life lessons” they feel must be imparted to attain
decent citizens. Life is messier than that. Without the ability to forgive and
be able to apologize, you’re just going to end up clashing. Because I’m a
writer, home, I raised them both, hands on. I am a much richer person for the
experience of raising my kids.

Parenting
and marriage are not classes Americans are required to learn. P.E. is.
Chemistry. I think people marry quickly to assuage their parents. I think
people see weddings as a big-old-queen-for-the-day party but not the beginning
of all that much. The parachute for getting out of marriage is as easy as
getting out of bed. So, the institution of marriage reads as solid as our
country’s infrastructure. Brittle at best. So, I’d say, there’swork to be done in appreciating that
childhood is fleeting and culminates in adults that represent us as a people.
Do better when they’re very young. Sew your oats so you’re not in competition
with the babies you brought here with your loins.And yes, I Iove entertaining my readers.

Q: What tip[s]
would you offer to ‘Dads’ about their role in the family?

Joshua Braff:Be both the alpha, the guy who takes
the reigns when the lights go out. But also be the child you remember being.
Join in on the silliness of our existence, the amazing and unique path of your
children as they look to you for answers in your every move. Go easy on
yourself, it’s very hard at times. But it’s one of those miracles that never
stops to amaze. You and a once stranger made these babies. They stay babies for
about 3 seconds. Now you’re looking at someone who may or may not be your
friend. It’s up to you. It’s an opportunity to forge a life long relationship.
Many people mess this up. Let the child grow to know she’s safe and always in a
routine of unconditional love.

Q: You write for
the Huffington Post as well as contribute to anthologies. What else have you
written? Do you prefer writing articles, short stories, novels, fiction,
non-fiction?

Joshua Braff:I love writing essays. The Huff Post
likes my work so they post everything and then I use the links to reach anyone
out there with an internet connection. I haven’t tried a short story in years.
They are so fulfilling but there’s a strong sense, these days, that it won’t be
read. The attention span is rough for pieces that open on a porch in
Georgia.A question then arises,
who cares? One day I will write creatively without the intention of posting or
publishing. It will be for me, my friends and family. There will be something
so freeing about it. It all began as an artistic outlet.

Q: What’s next?

Joshua Braff:Excited about the next novel. Haven’t
ever been this excited to write. It’s related to my age, I think, and my
success in taking control of the business end of my career.

Q: Tell us
about Joshua Braff. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Joshua Braff:I paint large canvases with acrylic and
oil. The genre is known as Color Field, Abstract Expressionism or The New York
School. Pollock, Rothko, Christenson, Noland, Newman, Motherwell are some of the
heavy hitters. I’ve sold pieces, had two studios and for months at a time have
forgotten about writing completely. It is a respite from words. A very rich
respite. I am also way into photography and music. I play guitar, drums and
some piano.

About Joshua
Braff

Joshua Braff is the author of three
novels, THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS OF JACOB GREEN, PEEP SHOW, and THE DADDY DIARIES, published May 5, 2015. THE DADDY DIARIES is a memorable take on
contemporary fatherhood and a clear-sighted look at how the upending of
traditional marital roles can affect the delicate balance of familial love.
Braff's work can also be found in The Huffington Post and in multiple
anthologies. He has an MFA from St. Mary's College and lives in Northern
California with his wife and two children. Visit his website for more
information.

THE DADDY DIARIES is a humorous and poignant novel
about a relationship between a stay at home dad and his two preteen kids. When
his wife goes to work full time in a beach town in Florida, Jay must acclimate
to life in the south. With a rich but stupid older brother, a lunatic townie
friend and a teen son who’s ready to know what a “threesome” is, Jay’s world is
thrown about as far as California to Florida.